Tusker is the term used to describe bull (male) elephants that have tusks that weigh in excess of 45 kilograms (100 pounds).

 

The largest tusks on official record belong to an African bull elephant shot in 1898 on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. Together they weighed a combined 209kg’s – the longest one measuring 318cms.

 

When the elephant population once estimated to

number more than 5 million individuals dominated

the African landscape large Tuskers were common.

 

They roamed and ruled over the African savannahs for centuries passing on their genes, knowledge and experience to future elephant generations, but now this is all being lost due to human activity, greed and corruption.

 

The immense size of their tusks and the profits they bring have meant Tuskers have been relentlessly targeted by elephant hunters and poachers.

 

As they have vanished their magnificent genes are lost forever and their place in the savannah ecosystem is disappearing.

 

Tuskers are now incredibly rare with possibly as few as 20 -30 left on the entire African continent.

 

The Greater Tsavo ecosystem containing Tsavo East, Tsavo West & Chyulu Hills National Parks is home to possibly the largest population of Tuskers left in all of Africa.